Complexity in 3D print design can come in two species: a single, highly detailed printed object or a composition of many printed objects. A project that captures the latter approach is Leo Marius' OpenFlex 3D printed SLR Camera. It captures images, too.

The SLR camera print was a project Marius completed for his studies at the Superior School of Art and Design of Saint-Etienne in France and built upon his previous project, a 3D printed pinhole camera.

OpenFlex is a design for a complete, working 35mm analog film camera. While it does take pictures, you'll probably have the most fun printing and assembling it, which apparently take little time: fifteen hours to print and one hour to assemble.

Of course, you'll need more than just the nineteen 3D printed parts. The design requires a proper camera lens, mirror, a magnet, some custom plastic pieces and numerous screws, bolts, nuts and bearings. Someday these will also be 3D printed, but for now they remain on the OpenFlex shopping list.

We suspect the OpenFlex could be among the most complex 3D printed items in the public domain that everyday printer owners may encounter. While there are designs that have more parts, the OpenFlex also must function precisely to produce analog images.

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has been writing Fabbaloo posts since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!

Fabbaloo is a daily online publication focusing on the 3D print and additive manufacturing industries. We provide deeper analysis of developments in current and future technologies as well as corporate matters. If there’s something happening in 3D technologies, especially FDM, SLA, SLS and Stereolithography, we’ll have an opinion about it.